Browse "Arts & Culture"

Alexander Phimister Proctor, sculptor, painter (b in Bosanquet Twp, Lambton Co, Ont 27 Sept 1860; d at Palo Alto, Calif 5 Sept 1950). Proctor's family left Canada in 1866, settling in Denver, Colorado, in 1871.

Alexander Ross, fur trader, author (b in Morayshire, Scot 9 May 1783; d at Red River [Man] 23 Oct 1856).

Alexander Thomas, writer, Indigenous leader (born on 25 December 1891 in Port Alberni, BC; died there on 28 Juyl 1971).

Alexander (Reid) Tilley. Educator, composer, conductor, b St John's, Nfld, 8 Nov 1944; B SC (McGill) 1965, BA (Sir George Williams) 1966, B MUS (McGill) 1970. He was raised in Montreal and studied composition with Istvan Anhalt and Bruce Mather and double-bass with Tom Martin.

Alexander Whyte Wright, journalist, labour leader, politician (b at Elmira, Ont 17 Dec 1845; d c 1919). After some business attempts in southwestern Ontario, he became a journalist and newspaper editor in the 1870s.

Alexandra Luke, painter (born 14 May 1901 in Montréal, QC; died 1 June 1967 in Oshawa, ON). Alexandra Luke was one of two female founding members of the Ontario-based group of abstract artists known as Painters Eleven.

Da Costa, born to artistic parents of Portuguese background, began his career as a child prodigy on both violin and piano and gave his first concerts at the age of nine.

(J.-) Alexandre (Zénon) Laurendeau. Oboist, clarinetist, b Lachenaie, near Montreal, 13 Dec 1870, d Montreal 13 Jul 1933. He was clarinetist in the Montreal Concert Band under the direction of Edmond Hardy and, after 1890, in the Sohmer Park orchestra. He later studied oboe with a Father Geay.

Alexandre-M. (Marie) Clerk. Choirmaster, teacher, b Montreal 31 Aug 1861, d there 27 Jul 1932. In 1896 he succeeded R.-O. Pelletier as choirmaster at the Gesù Church.

Alexina Diane Louie, OC, O Ont, FRSC, composer, pianist, teacher (born 30 July 1949 in Vancouver, BC). One of Canada’s most celebrated composers, Alexina Louie writes music with an imaginative and spiritual blend of Asian and Western influences.

Louie returned to Canada in 1980, settling in Toronto. The main focus of her career since then has been composing, but she has also taught theory and composition on an occasional basis for the Royal Conservatory of Music, York University, and the University of Western Ontario.

(Joseph Pierre) Alexis Contant. Composer, organist, teacher, pianist, b Montreal 12 Nov 1858, d there 28 Nov 1918.

In 1885 he became organist at St-Jean-Baptiste Church in Montréal, a position he retained until his death.

Margaret Alexis Fitzsimmons Smith, actor (born 8 June 1921 in Penticton, BC; died 9 June 1993 in Los Angeles, California). Alexis Smith was a movie star during Hollywood’s golden age, sharing the screen with some of the era’s most celebrated performers, such as Clark Gable, Humphrey Bogart, William Holden and Cary Grant. She took a hiatus from Hollywood for a decade before winning a Tony Award in 1971 for her performance in Stephen Sondheim’s hit Broadway musical, Follies. Smith appeared in such television series as The Love Boat, Dallas and Cheers, and such films as The Adventures of Mark Twain (1944), Rhapsody in Blue (1945), the Canadian tax shelter thriller The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane (1976), and Martin Scorsese’s The Age of Innocence (1993).

Alexisonfire. Post-hardcore band, formed in 2001 in St. Catharines, Ontario and originally consisting of vocalist George Pettit, guitarist and vocalist Dallas Green, guitarist Wade MacNeil, bassist Christopher Steele and drummer Jesse Ingelevics. In 2005, Ingelevics was replaced by Jordan Hastings.

Alfie (Alfred) Noakes. Trumpeter, b Toronto 26 Jun 1903, d Christchurch, England, 27 Feb 1982.

Alfred Goldsworthy Bailey, historian, poet, man of letters (b at Québec City 18 Mar 1905; d at Fredericton 21 Apr 1997).

Alfred Bernier. Teacher, musicologist, choirmaster, composer, b Montreal 26 Oct 1896, d there 25 Apr 1953; BA (Montreal) 1919, PH D (Montreal) 1925, L TH (Montreal) 1932, D MUS sacred music (Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music, Rome) 1939.

Alfred Bryan. Songwriter, lyricist, b Brantford, Ont, 15 Sep 1871, d Gladstone, NJ, 1 Apr 1958. Raised in Brantford and from 1886 in London, Ont, Alfred Bryan attended the Collegiate Institute before moving to Chicago, working as a newspaper reporter.

Alfred De Sève (DeSève, Desève). Violinist, teacher, composer, (b St-Henri [Montreal] May or June 1858, d Montreal 25 Nov 1927). He began violin study at seven with Oscar Martel and made a promising debut six months later. He also was taught by Frantz Jehin-Prume.